


An Unconventional Family

by Akiko_Natsuko



Series: BixFreed [4]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Children, Children's Stories, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Protectiveness, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-08-20 18:38:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16561157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: Freed is startled to realise that at some point in the past year or so, his relationship with Bickslow has shifted to include five other souls...children that he never expected to have, but that he will do anything to protect.





	An Unconventional Family

**Now:**

“I shall release their souls….”

   It was only as he flung himself into the path of the attack. Magic flaring, as he raised his blade in front of him in the desperate hope that he could stop that attack reaching Bickslow’s dolls that Freed realised just how much things had changed. He hadn’t been thinking about his partner and how the Seith mage would react to their loss when he moved, instead his thoughts had been solely for the five dolls. Or rather the five souls that at some point had come to occupy the same space in his heart that Bickslow did, souls that he would kill for…souls that he would die to protect. And then there was nothing but pain as the spell slammed into him, and there was no way that he could hold back the scream that escaped as his knees gave way beneath, the sword falling from his hands as he tried to catch himself.

_It hurts._

   It hurt. It was hard to focus on anything else apart from that, but he managed to focus enough to realise that the magic had dissipated after hitting him. He found himself slumping forward, dampness on his cheeks as he realised that it had been enough. That the spell hadn’t got past him. He could vaguely make out Bickslow shouting his name, although it sounded like it was coming from miles away, and as the world began to disappear in a dizzying swirl in colour and pain, he was fairly sure that there were five other voices raised in a cry and despite everything he felt his lips twitching up in a smile.

_They’re safe…_

****

**A year before:**

  Freed could feel eyes burning into his back, a sensation that had been going on for several minutes now, and which until now he had been ignoring in favour of reading his book. It was a collection of Fiorean myths, an incredibly rare copy that Levy had managed to get her hands on a couple of months ago and which she had generously dropped off for him to read that morning, and he was damned if he was going to let anything interfere with that. Especially a certain, red-eyed Seith mage who was already in the doghouse that morning because he had somehow managed to nearly burn down the kitchen when he had got distracted in the middle of cooking breakfast for all of them. Hence the fact that he had been doing his best to ignore the intruder, but now the sensation of being watched was becoming unbearable, and with a sigh, he rolled over to glare at the doorway.

“What do you….?” He trailed off as he realised that it wasn’t Bickslow who was watching it, instead five little heads were peering at him from around the door frame, and he was sure that they had all just flinched back at the tone of his voice.

   It was rare to see the dolls without Bickslow in tow, although he had noticed more and more that they seemed to be gravitating towards him lately, although so far they had always maintained a set distance. He had thought that it was just a side effect of the changing relationship between him and Bickslow, as the dolls had never really shown an interest in the rest of the Raijinshuu or Laxus before, or at least not beyond helping the Seith mage pull his pranks and unhelpfully repeating words in the middle of serious discussions. However, looking at them now he could have sworn that despite their carved faces which were set in permanent grins, there was an almost nervous air around them, and he got the sense that this time at least they had deliberately sought him out. A suspicion reinforced by the realisation that he could hear his partner bustling around downstairs. _But why?_

“What do you want?” He asked, deliberately softening his voice as he recalled how they had flinched a few moments ago and he watched as they looked at each other before darting across to the bed, lining up along the edge and peering up at him.

“Story! Story!”

“I…” He blinked at the request, glancing down at the book in his hand before glancing back at them, unsure of whether he understood them correctly or not. Were they really asking for a story? He knew that they liked playing and pranks, making them perfect playmates for his endearingly childish partner, but he didn’t think he had ever heard them asking Bickslow for a story. In fact, they very rarely spoke independently, preferring to just repeat what they heard, but there was no doubt that they were currently very much focused on him and he worried at his bottom lip, unsure of what to do or say.

“Please? Please?” Freed wanted to groan at their pleading tone, hearing echoes of Bickslow’s voice when he was trying to convince Freed to join in with whatever crazy scheme he had come up with this time. Unfortunately, it was also a tone he had yet to build up a defence against, and he sighed as he felt himself already caving.

“Fine,” he replied, having to hold up a hand to silence them as they broke off into excited chatter, waiting until they were properly paying attention before adding sternly. “But you have to settle down and listen carefully.” He wasn’t even sure that was something they could do, but as soon as the words had left his lips they had landed on the bed, forming a semi-circle around him and their voices were the quietest he had ever heard them as they agreed to his terms.

“Yes, Yes…”

   Shooting them a semi-curious, semi-suspicious look he sighed before turning his attention back to the book in his lap, flicking back a few pages until he was at the start of the myth he had been reading, and he felt the anticipation that rippled through the dolls. Eyeing them again he took a deep breath and began to read aloud, trying not to think about how odd this would look to an outsider.

**

   The dolls were attentive listeners, although occasionally they would forget themselves and react loudly to an event in the story, but they would quickly shush each other the moment Freed glanced at them, and the Rune mage found himself unable to mind the distractions that much. He wasn’t entirely sure how long he had been reading to them for, but they had got through several stories when he heard movement at the door, and he glanced up to find Bickslow taking in the scene with startled eyes and a hint of an amused grin. Freed was just about to point out that they were his babies, but before he could speak one of the dolls had nudged his knee and when he glanced down at them they began to bounce up and down again in excitement.

“More! More!” It didn’t even seem to have registered with them that Bickslow was there, and part of him was tempted to point this out. However, the cry was becoming more insistent, and he found himself unable to refuse their childlike enthusiasm, so with a soft smile at his partner he turned back to his book and began to read aloud again. The dolls immediately settled as they remembered his previous rules, and he was vaguely aware of the Seith mage creeping across to sit on the end of the bed, listening just as intently as his dolls and Freed couldn’t help but feel like he had just gained more family than he had intended to.

****

**Eight months before:**

   Freed was in the middle of cooking dinner, humming softly to himself as moved back and forth across the kitchen. Enjoying the fact that they were getting a peaceful evening to themselves as Laxus had decided to take off on a job on his own and Evergreen was on a ‘not-a-date’ with Elfman and would probably be doing the walk of shame in the morning, something that had become a lot more common in the last month or so. Bickslow was supposed to be tidying up the mess he had made earlier that day when he had been carving, but there had been no sound from the living room for some time, and that usually meant that his partner had got distracted by something…or that he was up to mischief. However, Freed was reluctant to leave the kitchen at the moment, and he knew that sooner or later he would find out what the older man was up to, he would just have to hope it wasn’t anything too terrible.

   He’d just put the lid back on the pan, leaving the soup to finish cooking when there was a blur of movement out of the corner of his eye, and he turned to find two of Bickslow’s dolls hovering behind him nervously _. Nearly to ourselves_ , he amended, but there was no exasperation with that realisation, as the puppets were very good about taking themselves off to play when he and Bickslow wanted private time, and he had found himself growing fonder of them since the day they had ambushed him for stories.

“Freed! Freed!”

“What is he doing?” Freed asked with a sigh as he recognised the high, nervous tone they were using. It was one they had adopted a couple of weeks ago when they had suddenly started coming to try and warn him when his partner was up to mischief. The pair began to giggle for a moment, still as fun-loving as ever, but all it took was a quiet cough to get them both to settle down, and they glanced at one another before adding sheepishly.

“Shampoo! Shampoo!” He growled softly at that. It was an old favourite, and one that he had been caught out by several times in the past and he glanced at the hob before deciding that it could survive for a few minutes, untying his apron and flinging it onto the table before stalking to the door with the dolls bobbing along behind him. As he reached the top of the stairs, he could hear Bickslow chuckling to himself in the bathroom, and his eyes narrowed. As much as he loved the other man, he did wonder what he had done wrong in a past life to fall for such a prankster. The dolls that were with him were whispering nervously amongst themselves, and he knew that they were probably torn between the strange, new loyalty they seemed to feel towards him and the dedication they had for Bickslow, and he shot them a reassuring glance.

“Don’t worry, I won’t punish him too much.” That seemed to have been enough because they settled at once, following him as he stepped into the bathroom to find the Seith mage in the middle of emptying out his shampoo, with a bottle of what Freed quickly identified as colour changing potion waiting to replace it and he coughed sharply to announce his presence.

“F-Freed…” At least Bickslow had the grace to look sheepish, although his eyes narrowed as he took in the dolls hovering by Freed’s shoulders and the pair meeped softly before hiding behind the Rune mage who shushed them gently before refocusing on his partner, smirking as he caught the Seith mage muttering ‘traitors’ under his breath. It was something he could get used to he decided a few minutes later as he watched Bickslow pouring his prank potion down the toilet, all five dolls now giggling at his misfortune.

****

**Sixth months before:**

   Freed shook his head as he stepped into their bedroom, to find that not only did Bickslow already have the lacrima and projector set up and the opening credits of the film already rolling but that they also had company. All five dolls were sat in the middle of the bed, their eyes fixated on the screen, but when he moved closer they glanced up at him, and he sighed as they realised they were waiting to see if he was going to chase them off as he had done in the past. Unfortunately, that had been before the little creatures had managed to creep into his affections, and he steadfastly ignored the smirk and knowing look that Bickslow shot at him as he sighed in defeat.

“You can stay,” he told them softly, settling himself on the bed and smiling slightly as they bounced up and down with soft cheers, although they immediately fell quiet as the movie started. His eyes softened as he watched them staring at the screen for a minute, before reaching out and entwining his hand with Bickslow’s behind their backs. There was no way they could cuddle together as closely as usual with the dolls there, but he couldn’t really bring himself to mind, pausing as a small voice at the back of his mind whispered that it was almost as though they had children. _Yeah, five of them - and the dad isn’t much better_ , he smirked slightly at that thought, startled to find that he didn’t mind it as much as he thought he would. Maybe because for the most part, it was like having five mini-Bickslow’s bobbing around, although admittedly they were probably less troublesome than five mini-Bickslow’s would be. _Thank heavens…_

   Dismissing those thoughts, for now, he focused on the moving, sighing as he realised that the Seith mage had opted for a scary movie again. He could never understand why Bickslow always insisted on choosing horror films or sad films for movie nights when his partner. The wonderful idiot that he was, who could be so fierce and terrifying in the midst of a battle, was a complete and utter softy when it came to films and would either end up in tears by the end of it or trying his best to hide against Freed. Although given his partner’s love for touch, that was probably part of the attraction as it would give a valid excuse to cuddle against Freed.

_As though he needs a reason…_

_**_

His prediction had turned out to be correct. They were barely halfway through, and already Bickslow had shifted so that he was partially hidden behind the Rune mage, peering out from behind Freed’s shoulder at the screen and ducking down when something scary crossed the screen. Only this time he wasn’t alone. The dolls had lasted marginally longer than their owner, but at some point they had all moved to hide in Freed’s lap, turning to bury their faces against his front whenever they got too scared and nudging at his hand until he patted them reassuringly on the head. It was making it incredibly hard for him to focus on the film, but there was a warm, contented feeling as he glanced between them and his cowardly partner, and he couldn’t keep the soft smile off his lips.

_Five. No - six children it is then…_

****

**Four months before:**

   Freed sighed as he stared down at the river flowing just in front of him, blinking back the urge to cry or scream out his frustrations. It was very rare that he fought with Bickslow, but when they did, it had a tendency to be explosive. They both had very long fuses, but when they burnt, they burnt long and hard. Hence the fact it had been two days since he had last spoken to the other man, and two days since he had set eyes on him as he had stormed out of the house and he hadn’t been able to bring himself to go back yet. He couldn’t even remember exactly what had started the argument, something about the fact that they had both been reckless on the last job, or at least that was how it had begun. However, as things had heated up, they had dredged up everything - little petty things that were typically laughed off or brushed aside, growing to epic proportions until harsh words were exchanged.

   He wasn’t even sure who was more at fault, or if they were equally responsible for what had happened, and he had no idea how to go about fixing it. He was never good at expressing his feelings at the best of times, let alone at times like this, which was why he was sat here on the river bank and trying to coax his thoughts into some sought of order.

“Freed? Freed?” The quiet chorus drew his attention, and he glanced up to find three of Bickslow’s dolls had managed to sneak up on him while he was lost in his thoughts, and a sad smile tugged at his lips as he realised that they looked just as dejected as he currently felt. “Hey,” he greeted them softly, reaching out to pat them on the head in turn, his smile growing slightly when they nuzzled at his hand. “What are you doing here?”

“Home? Home?” They chorused as they bounced into the air, seeming to look at each other before adding softly. “Miss You! Miss You!” The urge to cry was intensifying as he realised for the first time just how much he had missed them too, he had got so used to their presence and the way that they sought him out, that he felt ashamed for not realising it sooner and his voice shook slightly.

“I missed you too.”

“Home? Home?”

“I…” _I can’t,_ he was about to say when he paused with a frown, turning to look up at the top of the riverbank as he heard a familiar voice raised in protest, and his eyes widened as a moment later Bickslow tumbled over the top of it. There was no time for him to dodge, and he found himself being knocked further down the bank, the pair of them rolling until Bickslow managed to brace them both seconds before they would have fallen into the water. “Bickslow…?” He was highly aware of how close they were and the feel of Bickslow’s arms around him, and he felt the ache of the last couple of days beginning to fade, and he was startled when the Seith mage began to chuckle. “Bickslow?”

“So that’s why they dragged me here and shoved me over the edge,” the Seith mage muttered, glancing up at the dolls that hovering above them for a moment before finally meeting Freed’s gaze, a sad smile on his lips as he added softly. “I’m sorry…”

“Me too,” Freed whispered with a sniffle, feeling like he might outright bawl as Bickslow pulled him into a tighter hug and kissed him softly. Instead, he found himself chuckling when the dolls began to dance around them, cheering and giggling, and warmth blossomed in his chest as he realised that the other man was right…they had brought them together on purpose. It was touching to realise that the dolls treasured their relationship and their makeshift family as much as he did, and as he buried his face against Bickslow, he promised that he would do something nice to thank them for this.

_Thank you…_

****

**Two months before:**

   Freed found himself with a lapful of five inconsolable dolls as they sat outside of the infirmary waiting for news on Bickslow. The idiot had lost focus momentarily in the middle of a battle, allowing his opponent to get in a lucky blow that had sent Bickslow tumbling to the ground in a pile of tangled limbs and he hadn’t got up again afterwards. Freed had arrived in time to stop the mage from finishing the job, alerted to the fact that something was wrong by the shrill cry that had risen from the dolls. But that had been hours ago, and now all he could do was sit and wait as the healers had chased him out when he had got in their way by hovering.

   He didn’t even have the words to comfort the dolls that were sniffling and whining against him. However, he found that having them to focus on them made it easier to stop himself from falling apart, and his arms were gentle as he gathered them close, not caring about the odd looks he was getting from people walking down the corridor. These five souls were his family, it didn’t matter what they looked like or how childish they were. They were family and right now they needed him. It had occurred to him when they had flocked to him the moment that he had sat down, that in the past neither he nor Evergreen had given any thought to how they were coping when Bickslow was injured, and it left an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach to think they had been in this state on their own. And there was a silent apology in his eyes, as he softly began to tell them a story he had memorised a while ago for them, hoping to at least calm them a little as they waited for news.

**

   It was nearly an hour later that they were allowed in, the dolls a lot calmer now, although still subdued as they followed Freed into the room, only to find that a heavily bandaged Bickslow was sat up in bed waiting for them with a slightly weary grin on his face. At once the dolls abandoned Freed and shot to their master, bouncing around him, before tentatively darting in to nudge against him in their approximation of a hug, and Bickslow’s eyes were soft as he let them before turning to look at the Rune Mage.

“Thank you for looking after them.”

“I didn’t do that much,” Freed muttered with a blush as he moved across to join them, reaching out to grasp Bickslow’s hand, needing the reassurance now that he no longer had to focus on calming the dolls and he jumped when the Seith mage leant in to kiss him gently.

“Yes you did,” Bickslow said softly, resting his forehead against Freed’s and smiling as he felt the dolls finally settling in his lap, landing lightly to show their concern for his injuries.“Normally they would be a mess right now, I’ve never seen them this calm. And I know that’s because they had you to look after them, so thank you.”

“Idiot, that’s not something you need to thank me for,” Freed was definitely red now, but there was a hint of sternness in his eyes as he glanced between the gathered dolls and Bickslow, and there was a slight waver to his voice as he added softly. “You worried us.”

_You worried your family…_

****

**Now:**

   Freed groaned softly as he drifted towards awareness, reasonably sure that there wasn’t a part of his body that didn’t hurt and for a moment he was contemplating whether it was possible just to pass out again. But then he recalled what had happened, and what he had done…and he knew that he could n’t make them wait any longer. Blinking as he became aware of the warm hand wrapped around his, and the soft voice - no soft voices urging him to wake up. _They’re here_ …He paused for a moment as he realised that he didn’t doubt for a second that there would be five others waiting for him to wake up, as well as his partner who was squeezing his hand in encouragement.

“Mmm…” He managed to force out as he blinked again, the world blurry and unfocused for a moment, although he could already make out the blurred figure that must be Bickslow leaning over him. “Ow,” he got out more clearly as he blinked again, clearing his vision and shifting on the bed before realising how much of a mistake that had been.

“Stay still,” Bickslow sounded uncommonly stern and Freed slowly managed to focus properly on his face, startled by the fierce scowl that met his gaze. “What were you thinking?” Apparently, he must’ve been out for a while because Bickslow was only ever that blunt when he had really worried him, and given him plenty of time to stew over whatever had happened.

“I…”

“You nearly died! And for what?” Bickslow cut him off, getting more and more worked up by the moment and Freed sighed, before glancing down as he became aware of the small bodies pressed against his side, and he smiled faintly as he found the dolls cuddled against him. Clearly they’d felt his gaze because they had shot into the air, bobbing around him, seemingly uncaring about Bickslow’s stormy gaze as they began to gleefully chant.

“Freed’s Awake! Freed’s Awake!”

   Hearing the soft growl from the Seith mage, Freed pulled his gaze away from the endearing sight of the celebrating dolls and turned back to his partner, sighing as he met angry crimson-eyes, not missing the concern underneath the anger.

“I did it for them,” he said softly, squeezing Bickslow’s fingers, and frowning as he recalled the moment he had realised what the other mage had been intending to do to the dolls. Their bodies had been destroyed countless times before, but that spell would have banished their souls completely, and even now the mere thought of it sent icy terror lancing through him. “That spell was meant to destroy them permanently, I couldn’t let that happen, and not just because they’re important to you.”

“Freed?”

“They’re important to me too…”

_At some point, I adopted five children with you…_


End file.
